Gender Roles: Societies' Law And Genetic Code

1660 words - 7 pages

When I'm out for a walk on a fine spring day, I pass by a park near my house. I notice a family of four, playing together. The parents were both pretty young and they had a young boy and girl. The father was throwing a football and chasing his son around, while the mother was pushing her daughter on the swing. As I walk by on the path, I almost trip over their bikes because I am speculating on how young kids start to associate gender roles. I realize that there is a small pink Barbie bike, a small black bike with flames, and two genderized mountain bikes, which support my thinking of gender roles in our lives. Why do girls dislike doing things guys do? Why can't guys be exactly like girls? ...view middle of the document...

The media influences us to think that if we do not fit any of these, we are not attractive to the other sex or will be considered important. So where do these guidelines come from? The influence lies in our genes and the way society has shaped us.Men and women have very different physical features. Men are generally bigger, faster, stronger, and hairier. There is a great overlap though; the strongest woman is more physically enhanced than the majority of men. Women, on the other hand, have less iron in their blood (making them generally colder often than males), are smaller, have breasts and bigger hips (for birth), and have slender shoulders. But the thing that greatly contributes to gender roles are hormones. Testosterone in men makes them more aggressive, while estrogen in females promotes the secondary female characteristics and is required for birth. Both sexes have both hormones, but males have substantially higher concentrations of testosterone and the same goes with females and estrogen. If males have more testosterone than females, it tends to make then more aggressive and violent than females. Also, testosterone makes men's bodies stronger, less susceptible to being sick; estrogen makes women live longer because they need to conceive children, but they are often sick more then males. With the effects of testosterone and estrogen, who would disagree that it impacts the ideology of gender roles greatly?There are also other differences genetically between males and females. Men are more likely to get certain diseases or traits: Color-blindness, hemophilia, leukemia, dyslexia, left-handedness, heart disease, strokes, emphysema, and other color-hearing defects. Women also get certain diseases that do not usually occur in men: thyroid & bladder disorders, anemia, spastic colon, varicose veins, migraines, gallstones, arthritis, and asthma. (Tucker-Ladd) Girls also can read emotions, actions, and body language better than guys. This starts as early as infancy because infant girls are more likely to recognize faces and respond to people better than infant boys. This may be from the development of the brain. Females seem to excel in writing and verbal skills, while males do better in math and visual subjects. "When older men and women have strokes on the left side, where language functions are thought to be, men are three times more likely to become aphasic (speech problems). This suggests speech is more concentrated on the left side in males than in females." (Tucker-Ladd). Other than genetic differences, the influence of society also has a big impact on gender roles.Every society has many unspoken rules, but the people know that they are there. Some of these rules apply to gender roles. Ever since we were children, our parents dress us in colors that fit boys or girls. "By age two, children usually understand that they are members of a gender..." (Devor 424) Boys are more aggressively played with than girls. Girls are kissed, brushed and...

Other Papers Like Gender Roles: Societies' Law And Genetic Code

897 words - 4 pages
Jenna Canam
Dr. Rhoda Zuk
ENGL 1170
2 February 2016
Gender Roles and Social Class in “The Yellow Wall-Paper” and “Revelation”
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wall-Paper” illustrates the hardships that woman suffered during this time period, physically and mentally. John is the perfect example of what a dominating spouse is like, a man who is in complete control over his wife. “John laughs at me, of course, but one expects that in

1188 words - 5 pages
Fairy Tales and Gender Roles
Some things about fairy tales we know to be true. They begin with "once upon a time." They end with "happily ever after." And somewhere in between the prince rescues the damsel in distress. Of course, this is not actually the case. Many fairytales omit these essential words. But few fairytales in the Western tradition indeed fail to have a beautiful, passive maiden rescued by a vibrant man, usually her superior

927 words - 4 pages
Role and Functions of Law Paper
Your Name
LAW/421
Date
Instructors Name
Roles and Functions of Law
Law is important in the business environment; companies depend on the laws to protect their business while conducting business. These laws help enforce contractual obligations and protect them from unwarranted lawsuits from vendors, suppliers, and consumers. The concept of the functions of law in society is also critical

737 words - 3 pages
Roles and Functions of Law
Laws must be observed in order for business, society, and local government to operate proficiently. Laws are put into place to help keep people’s behaviors in order and to regulate standards. Law is a body of rules of action or conduct prescribed by controlling authority and having legal binding force. The common characteristic of the current state of law is that it creates duties, obligations, and rights that reflect

792 words - 4 pages
Roles and Functions of Law Paper
Cheryl Swallow
University of Phoenix
In business, there are several different rules and regulations that apply to the various types of business based on the classifications. Depending on the work that one does, the laws that affect everyone apply in different forms to different businesses. The functions and the role of the law as it relates to business is unique and can be quite complicated. In defining and

838 words - 4 pages
, as well as fair and equal treatment of employees and users of business. This paper has described the roles and functions of law as well as taking a look at my present job and how law is used in it.
References
Melvin, S.P. (2011). The legal environment of business: A managerial approach: Theory to practice. New York, N.Y., McGraw-Hill/Irwin

647 words - 3 pages
RELIGIOUS AND GENDER ROLES IN ANCIENT INDIA
Bureaucracy is the key to establishing a successful empire. In Ancient India, their bureaucratic system was the Caste System which was developed for social, economic, cultural and religious reasons. In this system, you were born into a particular caste and it would never change. The Law of Manu states that “the Exceedingly Resplendent One [the Creator of the Universe] assigned separate duties to the

542 words - 3 pages
Gender Roles and Sexism in Twelfth Night
Twelfth Night is written in the era where the roles of men and women are severely detached. This is clearly demonstrated through the actions and thoughts of the characters in this play. Sexism, which is related to gender roles, is evident throughout the course of this play and is conveyed in various aspects. A form of gender roles is expressed at the very beginning of the book by Viola. Viola had

734 words - 3 pages
differences in gender, status, age, duties, roles and perspective.
Furthermore, Friedrich Hayek asserts equality as essential before the law and people should be treated alike in spite of the fact that all are different.
The differences of men and women have put the women into the field of inferiority, describing them as weak and powerless part of the society.
Traditionally, women were typically involved in domestic tasks emphasizing child

1633 words - 7 pages
uncovered through gendered identities that will explain masculinity and femininity as enactments of transgression and identity and furthermore, the dominant ideology of gender roles in romance which, using examples from modern day popular music, conveys the man as a pursuer of sex and woman as the pursued but more interested in love and romance. These factors are dependent upon genre and will therefore also be discussed.
The purpose of genre

2318 words - 10 pages
you are beaten.’ The other matter is that what precipitates her victory is sex, or to put it in another way, an intense emotional experience that she and Jack share” (Dukore 26). Beginning with an examination of Shaw’s preface to Man and Superman, Dukore discusses Shaw’s ability to break through the traditional social gender roles of men and women. Shaw completes this task with the unique leading female character, Ann Whitefield. Ann demonstrates

Related Essays

1730 words - 7 pages
Alternate Gender Roles in Native American and Hindu Societies
Sara Boater
Anthropology 101: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Cal Overton
January 09, 2014
While many cultures have defined societal gender roles that are specifically male or female, there are some cultures that also recognize that some individuals belong to an alternate gender role. Individuals that may participate in alternate gender roles are

1247 words - 5 pages
Assess the view that gender roles and relationships have become more equal in the modern family life
The item suggests that ‘a number of changes have taken place in gender roles and relationships within families’ so in today’s society, there are a number of sociological views, which agree that change between equality has taken place in gender roles and between the relationships within the family, making it more equal. Some argue that in modern

2084 words - 9 pages
What roles and actions should actors of a particular gender portray? Should men be aggressive and have a level of ambition high enough to meet their loftiest goals? Should women always be passive and frail, never using their energy to advance their lot? William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a tragic tale of one man’s deadly and unchecked ambition to be king, and his wife’s lust for power and title. By the final act of the play, Macbeth has been

1298 words - 6 pages
Running Head: SEX ROLES AND GENDER INEQUALITY
Sex roles and Gender Inequality
SEX ROLES AND GENDER INEQUALITY
Introduction
Sex is defined as the biological differences between a male and female. Gender,
however, can be identified as the way society organizes understandings of sexual difference
(Shaw & Lee, 2001). In this essay, I will try to discuss whether gender differences, and in
turn inequality, is a creation of people